High Commissioner of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands

High Commissioner of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
The seal of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands and its High Commissioner
Longest serving Edward E. Johnston 1 May 1969–1 July 1976
Seat	Saipan
Appointer	President of the United States
Formation	18 July 1947
First holder	Louis E. Denfeld
Final holder	Janet J. McCoy
Abolished	10 July 1987
Succession	Governor of the South Seas Mandate

Location of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (bordered in red) in the Pacific Ocean.

Map of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands in 1961.

TTPI High Commissioner and staff, 1960s.

The High Commissioner of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands was an official who administered the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI), a United Nations trusteeship in the Pacific Ocean under the administration of the United States, between 1947 and 1994. The territory consisted of islands captured by America during World War II, prior to which they had been part of the Empire of Japan as the South Seas Mandate, within the Japanese colonial empire. After World War II, United Nations Security Council Resolution 21 placed the territory under the United States trusteeship as the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. The islands are now part of Palau, Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, and Marshall Islands.

List[]

The following is a list of the High Commissioner of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, as well as their predecessors during the American occupation of the territory between 1944 and 1947.

(Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office)

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
United States Navy control
Military Governor
1		John H. Hoover (1887–1970)	March 1944	19 June 1944	3 months
Military Governor and CINCPACFLT
2		Chester W. Nimitz (1885–1966)	19 June 1944	24 November 1945	1 year, 158 days
3		Raymond A. Spruance (1885–1969)	24 November 1945	3 February 1946	71 days
4		John H. Towers (1885–1955)	3 February 1946	28 February 1947	1 year, 25 days
5		Louis E. Denfeld (1891–1972)	28 February 1947	18 July 1947	140 days
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
High Commissioner and CINCPACFLT
1[a]		Louis E. Denfeld (1891–1972)	18 July 1947	17 April 1948	274 days
2		DeWitt Clinton Ramsey (1888–1961)	17 April 1948	1 May 1949	1 year, 14 days
3		Arthur W. Radford (1896–1973)	1 May 1949	6 January 1951	1 year, 250 days
High Commissioner
4		Elbert D. Thomas (1883–1953)	6 January 1951	11 February 1953 †	2 years, 36 days
5		Frank E. Midkiff (1887–1983)	13 March 1953	1 September 1954	1 year, 172 days
–		Delmas H. Nucker (1907–1985)	1 September 1954	November 1956	6 years, 242 days
6			November 1956	1 May 1961
7		Maurice W. Goding (1911–1989)	1 May 1961	27 May 1966	5 years, 26 days
–		William R. Norwood (1909–1981)	27 May 1966	1 August 1966	2 years, 339 days
8			1 August 1966	1 May 1969
9		Edward E. Johnston (1918–2011)	1 May 1969	1 July 1976	7 years, 61 days
–		Peter Tali Coleman (1919–1997)	1 July 1976	February 1977	7 months
–		(1918–1978)	February 1977	9 July 1977	5 months
10		Adrian P. Winkel (1915–1994)	9 July 1977	1981	3–4 years
–		(born 1938)	1981	December 1981	0 years
11		Janet J. McCoy (1916–1995)	December 1981	10 July 1987	5 years, 7 months
Director of the Office of Transition
12		Charles D. Jordan	3 November 1986	30 September 1991	4 years, 331 days

Palau[]

• Palau continued to be administered by the Office of Territorial and International Affairs (presently the Office of Insular Affairs), a unit of the United States Department of the Interior until May 25, 1994.

Notes[]

See also[]

• Governor of the South Seas Mandate
• Congress of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands

External links[]

• World Statesmen – Micronesia (Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands)

References[]